Cessna 152 N714TD

Summary

On 3 December 2017 at about 21:25 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N714TD was involved in an accident near Everett, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 December 2017 at 21:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Everett, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Snohomish County (Paine Fld) (PAE)

Coordinates

47.9076, -122.2809

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N714TD

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Everett → Everett

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR18LA042

2 people had minor injuries.

The flight instructor’s inadequate preflight inspection, during which he failed to ensure that water was sufficiently drained from the fuel system, which resulted in total loss of engine power and a subsequent forced landing and impact with objects.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight instructor, after conducting a local, instructional flight, he and the student pilot returned to the airport to practice touch-and-go landings. After successfully completing one touch-and-go landing, they switched to another runway. During the approach, the airplane was high on the glidepath, and the student subsequently initiated a go-around. The instructor reported that, during the go-around, when the airplane was about 150 ft above ground level, the engine “sputtered” and then lost all power. Realizing that the airplane would not be able to reach the runway, the flight instructor chose to conduct a forced landing in a nearby field, during which the left wing stuck a utility pole, and the right wing struck a tree, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings. During postaccident examination of the airplane, the fuel tank sumps and strainer were drained, and a large amount of water was observed in the fuel. During a test run, the engine had difficulty starting. The carburetor was removed, and the examination revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation, and no debris or other contaminants were found. After the carburetor was replaced, the engine started with some hesitation but then ran smoothly at various power settings. Given the evidence, it is likely that the fuel lines and carburetor were contaminated with water because the instructor failed to ensure that water was sufficiently drained from the fuel system during the preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.